JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 22, 2007) - The ETSU women's tennis team fell to the Jacksonville Dolphins, 4-2 in the General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Tournament on Sunday afternoon. The Lady Bucs finish the season 17-10, while the Dolphins improve to 19-3.  

Jacksonville earned the early 1-0 lead as they captured the doubles point in the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. Competing in the No. 1 slot, Masha Ilina (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) fell to Emese Sulyos and Lena Willi, 8-3, while Yevgeniya Stupak (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Elena Volobueva (Barcelona, Spain) were defeated by Tatiana Soldatova and Iva Jaresova, 8-4 in the second position.

The Lady Bucs were able to tie the match at 1-1 as sophomore Vita Moskaliova (Minsk, Belarus) cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Cristina Paiva-Flor in the No. 6 slot. Jacksonville then took the lead back as Lena Willi defeated Masha Ilina, 6-4, 6-2 in the second position.

ETSU tied the match for a second time as Elena Volobueva battled back in the first set to drop Fernanda Carrero, 7-5, 6-2 in the No. 5 position. The Dolphins took the their third and final lead of the day as Emese Sulyos defeated Yevgeniya Stupak, 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 1 slot. Tatiana Soldatova then clinched the A-Sun title when she defeated Olya Batsula in a hard fought 7-6(9-7), 6-3 match.

"Words can't describe how proud I am of our team. They have battled all season through a tough schedule," said head coach Steve Brooks. "The girls were just too tight in the doubles today and I knew it would come down to who won the doubles point. Jacksonville played good today and they won it in the doubles.

"I still think the best teams are way ahead of us this is my sixth season here and we've only gotten better and better every year. This is the first time anytime from ETSU outside of men's golf has played five of the teams in the Top 25. I think the future is very bright for us and I want to do a better job with the tournament next year. Hopefully the girls will have some experience and will know what it feels like to lose and they won't allow themselves to lose," added Brooks.

Two members of the Lady Bucs squad, Tara Byrne and Yevgeniya Stupak, were named to the All-Tournament team. Byrne won two matches during the tournament and finishes the season with a 22-16 record, while Stupak went 1-1 in the tournament and finished her freshman season with a 23-14 record. Keep up with all ETSU women's tennis action throughout the summer months and into the 2007-08 season by visiting www.ETSUBucs.com.

JU 4, ETSU 2

Singles

No. 1- Emese Sulyos (JU) def. Yevgeniya Stupak (ETSU) 6-3, 6-1

No. 2- Lena Willi (JU) def. Masha Ilina (ETSU) 6-4, 6-2

No. 3- Tatiana Soldatova (JU) Olya Batsula (ETSU) 7-6(9-7), 6-3

No. 4- Tara Byrne (ETSU) vs. Iva Jaresova (JU) DNF

No. 5- Elena Volobueva (ETSU) def. Fernanda Carrero (JU) 7-5, 6-2

No. 6- Vita Moskaliova (ETSU) def. Cristina Paiva-Flor (JU) 6-4, 6-2

Doubles

No. 1- Sulyos/Willi (JU) def. Ilina/Batsula (ETSU) 8-3

No. 2- Soldatova/Jaresova (JU) def. Stupak/Volobueva (ETSU) 8-4

No. 3- Byrne/Stewart (ETSU) vs. Carrero/Paiva-Flor (JU) DNF